"Mother!"
Mortes heard a call laced with sobbing. That voice was both familiar and strange... the childish tone was exactly like her child's, yet the vocal quality was inexplicably much more mature.
"Mother!"
The call rose again. The woman, whose brain still throbbed with intense dizziness, struggled to open her eyes.
Immediately.
A beautiful face stained with tears like pear blossoms in rain entered her vision.
Like... so like her...
Just like herself from a few years ago...
But, there are some differences.
Or rather, she looks more like that child, like...
"Tribios?"
In a trance, she called out her daughter's name. The teary-eyed woman before her instantly cried even more emotionally, holding her hand tightly:
"It's me, Mother. It's me, your Tribios."
"My... Tribios? My... good girl?"
The woman looked in disbelief at this girl who possessed the charm of an adult yet hadn't fully left her maiden years behind. She was stunned for a moment.
"Looks like you need to go on a killing spree again, my dear Seliose."
Aizen didn't disturb the reunion of mother and daughter. He just turned his head and whispered to Seliose.
"We won't stay long in this Special Scenario. Leave the remaining time for the mother and daughter to catch up. I'll have to trouble you to go solve the vermin inside Janusopolis one more time."
Seliose nodded. In this short time, Aizen had explained the cause and effect to her. A group of rotten higher-ups, in order to completely seize the Saintess's authority, didn't hesitate to force the current Prophetic Saintess to fall off a cliff, making it easier to control the ten-year-old orphan in the days to come.
The actions of these higher-ups were always so filthy, making one feel nauseous.
She was the crystallization of true love between a man and a woman from the Rain People and the Sunlight People. Yet, to avoid the blood feud between the two tribes and persecution from the higher-ups, they had to take her to live far away from both tribes.
After her parents died, she wandered alone in the wilderness, accompanied by winged beasts.
If not for those rotten higher-ups fighting for power and profit over petty gains, her parents wouldn't have died so early.
And now.
Hearing about Tribios's situation, she vaguely understood why she would become best friends with this woman in the future.
Probably because of empathy, right?
"I never thought there would come a day when I'd need to kill the same group of people twice."
Seliose couldn't help but laugh. But if everything just required the application of martial force, living in this world might be much easier for her.
"Leave it to me."
Carrying her long spear, still unwashed of blood stains, Seliose walked toward Janusopolis again.
On this day, the Janusopolis of a different timeline once again flowed with rivers of blood.
Another cleansing, seemingly even more proficient than the last. In just about three hours, Seliose dragged the dying Archon like a dead dog to Aizen.
"This is the instigator who planned the cliff-fall accident."
The dying Archon barely lifted her eyelids, looked at Aizen, and then saw the two red-haired women embracing not far away. The moment she saw Mortes clearly, her eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets, and a hysterical wail erupted from her throat.
"Why?! Why didn't you die?!!!"
"Ahhhhhhh,,,,,,!"
Amidst the desperate screams, the instigator who planned this accident breathed her last. Aizen shook his head slightly. Such people truly deserved more than death.
"Thank you."
After hours of pouring their hearts out, Mortes had completely believed that this big girl was her good daughter. They came from the future, from the Janusopolis of ten years later.
It was the boy in front of her, leading the girl who saved her, who together saved her daughter. Otherwise, her daughter might have followed in her footsteps.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but reach out, pulling the boy directly into her embrace, thanking him gently.
"I don't know how to express my gratitude with words, because aside from 'Thank You,' I cannot say any other vocabulary."
Do all the women of Amphoreus like to use hugs to express gratitude?
But speaking of which, worthy of the wife who gave birth to the "Southern Hemisphere." The heavy pressure on his head is not a bit lighter than her daughter's.
"Auntie, we are already an inseparable community of destiny. Tribios's matters are basically our matters. So... you don't need to be like this."
Inseparable community of destiny?
That child actually found such reliable partners?
Mortes couldn't help but smile, stroking the boy's hair and saying warmly:
"That is between you and the child. But you saved me after all. If I don't express my gratitude, it would be rude of me. Why not return to Janusopolis with me..."
"No."
Aizen shook his head, then looked at the log interface, speaking slowly.
"Our mission is complete, and the time is up. We should return to the time that belongs to us."
Hearing this news, Mortes was slightly stunned. Tribios also froze in place for a moment. After a while, the Saintess looked up slightly, trying hard to smile.
"It is enough."
"Mother, just as I said before, I also have a mission I must fulfill."
"And now, I should depart too. I promised Janus to cross the remains of the gods and bring the prophecy of breaking through the darkness to the world."
"Just like what you said to me that day. We... will meet again at the end of the West Wind, where the flowers are fragrant."
"So, see you tomorrow, Mother."
The words of farewell fell into her ears. Mortes fell silent for a moment. After a long time, she barely managed a smile and spoke.
"I will be proud of you, Tribios."
"Then, see you tomorrow, my good girl."
Hearing this sentence, Tribios silently walked to Aizen's side, then waved her hand to her mother while crying gently, signaling a true farewell.
Seeing this scene, Aizen also fell into silence. He felt like ants were crawling all over his body...
The atmosphere has reached this point.
It seems inappropriate for him to announce the settlement reward for this scenario mission right now.
[ Successfully reversed the death of Former Prophetic Saintess Mortes ]
[ You will obtain Special Light Cone Reward ]
[ See You Tomorrow, Good Girl ]
· Tribios's Exclusive Light Cone. Equipping this Light Cone increases Tribios's Spirit and Resistance Attribute Level Cap by +1.
· Mortes converts a pruned portion of her soul data into the Light Cone's Exclusive Memory Spirit.
· A mother's love is enough to heal all wounds of her child, including damage at the soul level.
· Tribios gains additional Trait: "Healing." Generates a sustainable healing aura. Deals additional healing bonus to units who have lost their mothers.
...Maybe I should tell them tomorrow that they have this reward?